Do we really need a surgery for hip fractures in elderly patients? Mortality rate and influencing factors.

Background: Hip fractures are associated with notable mortality rates in elderly patients. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the mortality rate and influencing factors associated with mortality in the elderly patients with hip fractures.

Methods: Between October 2000 and December 2009, 807 elderly patients with hip fractures were enrolled in this study. There were 197 men and 610 women. The mean age at injuries were 78 years (range, 65-99 years). The fractures consisted of 390 femoral neck fractures and 417 intertrochanteric fractures. The mortality rate was evaluated between patients who underwent surgical and nonsurgical treatments. The influencing factors associated with mortality rate were evaluated statistically.

Results: Overall, 691 (85.6%) patients treated surgically and 116 (14.4%) patients treated nonsurgically were included. The overall mortality rates one and two years after injuries were 16.6 and 39.4%, respectively. In surgical treatment group, the mortality rate one and two years after injuries were 12.0 and 35.7%, respectively. In nonsurgical treatment group, the mortality rates were 44.0 and 61.2%, respectively (p < 0.05). No significant difference was noted between the types of fractures and the time from injury to surgery. Regardless of surgical methods, a significantly higher mortality rate was observed in patients with heart disease, chronic renal disease, dementia, and cancer, or in patients with 3 or more comorbidities.

Conclusions: In elderly patients with hip fractures, surgical treatments can decrease the mortality rate as compared with nonsurgical treatments. In addition, patients who had three or more comorbidities (heart disease, chronic renal failure, dementia, and history of cancer) are associated with a higher risk of mortality.

Trial Registration: Retrospectively registered.